


Secrets

by ebenflo



Series: Mornings [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Husbands, Implied Mpreg, M/M, Married Couple, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 09:51:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18221531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebenflo/pseuds/ebenflo
Summary: Tony was alone, again, something that hadn’t been that uncommon in recent times. His husband was up to something, had been for weeks if Tony’s estimates were correct. At first Tony wondered if Peter was having an affair. But Tony knew better - knew Peter better. Whatever Peter was involved in was bigger than that.





	Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the "Mornings" verse. Like the tag said, NO UNDERAGE CONTENT. Peter is very much a consenting adult.

It was on a fine, crisp Autumn morning, as Tony rose from bed, that he decided he would go looking for the truth. Tony was alone, again, something that hadn’t been that uncommon in recent times. Peter had always been a light sleeper, but this was different. His husband was up to something, had been for weeks if Tony’s estimates were correct. At first - and only briefly - Tony wondered if Peter was having an affair. But Tony knew better - knew Peter better - than to think this was something as tawdry or cheap as an affair.

No. Whatever Peter was involved in was bigger than that. Tony hoped for both their sakes it wasn’t something illegal, or dangerous. Not that they wouldn’t step up to mark if the situation called upon it. One didn’t simply stop being a super hero because it was inconvenient or dangerous. But things had changed since Marie arrived in their lives. It wasn’t just themselves they had to look out for any more. Their child needed them. Tony hoped that Peter, brilliant, beautiful, daring Peter, remembered that.

“Baba?”

Tony’s meandering thoughts were interrupted by the patter of little feet and the snuffles of said child.

“Baby girl,” Tony muttered, scooping up their infant daughter from where she had toddled into the doorway of his and Peter’s room, her chubby hands making grabby motions towards him. She instantly curled into the warmth of his chest, her damp soft cheek mushed into his shoulder.

“Baba come play?”

“Baba has to do some work,” Tony sighed, “FRIDAY, get me Pep on the line.”

“Tony? It’s six a.m.”

“Sorry Pep, I need a favour, need you to look after Marie for the morning.”

“Oh! Uh- yeah, of course. Tony, is everything all right?”

Tony looked over at a framed photo on the bedside table of Peter on their wedding day. It was a candid shot, in black and white. He was looking over at May, laughing giddily at something she was saying. His tuxedo jacket had been shed, the ends of his bow tie hanging loosely around the unbuttoned collar of his dress shirt. He was beaming, radiant.

Tony had thought himself the luckiest bastard on earth.

“I hope so, Pepper. I really do.”

Peter, it turned out, was not that difficult to track after all. Tony felt a little low that he had stooped to using tracking technology to hunt down his husband. Not his finest moment, and certainly not an action he was proud of. He told himself it was for Peter’s own safety. Sometimes his young husband was too foolhardy, too headstrong, to see danger when it was there right in front of him. Which is why, in many ways, Tony was relieved when the tracker lead him to a disused wing of the University where Peter sometimes lectured instead of some nefarious drug den or dungeon. There were lights on in one of the back rooms. Peter was no where to be seen.

There was a small workstation set up with a computer running streams of data. The Spider-Man suit was half-shoved in Peter’s backpack on a stool. There was also a second open laptop - Peter’s laptop, where Tony found desktop folders with his name, and Marie’s, under a directory entitled GENESIS.

“What the hell…” Tony murmured.

His lips moved silently as his eyes flicked over the information that had been pulled up on the screens. He paled when the ball dropped and he registered what it was he had stumbled upon, what had kept Peter late into the night at the lab and up early in the mornings. He had just started looking through the panels of bloods run on their daughter, when he heard the scuffle of footsteps behind him and the crash of a ceramic mug sent hurtling to the floor.

 

-*-

“No…”

Peter had just stepped out to refill his coffee, he had hardly been gone five minutes, only to come back to find his husband poring over his work. Tony’s face was a barely controlled mask, and Peter saw hints of disbelief and fury.

Peter gulped. It had been a long time since he had seen Tony so angry. He put his hands up in a placating way.

“I can explain…” Peter started slowly. “It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got time,” Tony growled. He shoved Peter’s laptop towards him. “You wanna tell me what GENESIS is Parker?”

Peter winced at the use of his old surname. He kept it, for college and work, but now it seemed Tony was using it almost as a weapon against him. It sounded horrid being spat out like that. Tony looked unimpressed.

“Well then? You said you were going to explain, so explain. Tell me Peter, why do you have sample of our daughter - OUR DAUGHTER’S genetic code on your screen, like one of your lab experiments. When were you gonna tell me that you were trying to hack your _own_ genetic code - and for what?”

“I just- I...I wanted to give us another child. Give _you_ another child.”

There was an awkward, uneasy silence, before Tony let out a hysterical bark. His eyes were wild, a mixture of incredulity and fear.

“Peter, you were lucky to survive the first time. OR have you forgotten? That was an accident, Peter. A mistake.”

Peter’s eyes narrowed into slits, unable to believe his husband had just labelled their child an _accident._

“Did you just call our daughter a _mistake?”_ Peter growled, feeling his anger and protectiveness rise.

“No…ah christ, no baby. Peter you know that’s not what I meant.”

“Don’t stop there,” Peter snapped. “Am **I** a mistake, too? I’m sorry, did we fuck up Tony Stark’s perfect life?”

“No! Peter…Jesus….I’m fucking this up big time kid. I just…I almost lost you, Peter. Again.”

Peter watched warily as Tony slumped on to a low stool, covering his face with his hands, scrubbing hard.

“You wanna know how it felt watching your life ebb away? How I was almost left a widower? When I lost you that first time on Titan, it was agony. But to be there in that hospital bay _after_ I thought I had you back forever, watching you dying, knowing I had-that I-” Tony’s voice cracked and Peter was horrified to see a hot tear escape down Tony’s cheek. Tony angrily brushed it away.

“Knowing that it was my actions that had you in that condition, that without me you would be living a normal life. Watching you there, when they split you open to deliver Marie. Seeing your heart beat slow. I wanted to die. With you. I didn’t know how I would keep going- Christ, Peter. You _are_ my life.”

“I’m sorry…” Peter choked, finally having the courage to walk forward to where Tony was slumped, holding open his arms and letting Tony fall forward, burying his wet face in the soft material of Peter’s jumper. He carded his fingers through Tony’s hair. “I am so, so sorry, Tony. I should have spoken to you.”

“No baby, I am. I’m sorry I got so angry and upset. But I can’t lose you again Peter. Not ever. If you want another kid fine, that’s something we can explore,” Tony promised. “But together. No more sneaking off like this okay? No more secrets.”

They stayed there for a long time, Tony’s arms curled possessively around Peter’s waist, Peter gently petting and stroking Tony’s back and hair.

“No more secrets,” Peter promised softly.

 


End file.
